Case construction



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Meet,- 1.

W. H. WATSON.

I CASE CONSTRUCTION.

Patentd Dec. 29, 1896.

Witnesses.

' ]V%vntor.

Attorney.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. H. WATSON.

, GASE'00NSTRUGTION.

No. 573,942. PatentedDeq. 29, 1896.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. l W. H. WATSON. CASE GONSTRUGTION.

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Inventor.

Witnesses.

Attorney.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

lVILLIAM ll. IVATSON, OF EAU CLAIRE, VVI SCONSIN.

CA'SE CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,942, dated December 29, 1896. Application filed November 26, 1895. Serial No. 570,218. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern;

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. WATsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Eau Claire, in the.county of Eau Claire and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Case Construction, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to household and store furniture, and particularly to a case, bureau, or other receptacle having drawers in which articles of clothing, merchandise,

&c., are kept, and its novelty will be fully understood from the following description and claims when taken in connection with the annexed drawings.

The object of the invention is to provide a case or stand having drawersof such peculiar construction that it will be absolutely proof against mice, moth, dust, or other things destructible to the case and its contents.

A further object of the invention is to provide a case-frame of novel and peculiar c011- struction and arrangement of parts, presenting improved means for attaching drawersupports and drawer division-rails.

The invention consists in the novel construction of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described, and set up in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, Figure 1 is a perspective view with two drawers removed and a drawer partially drawn, partly broken away. Fig.2 is an enlarged perspective view, partly broken away, of one of the rear corner-posts.

Fig. 3 is a similar view of one of the front posts. Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the end of a drawer. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the main frame, taken at the point where the combined drawer division and stop rail and the drawer-support are fixed in the corner-posts. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of the top and top frame. Fig. 7 is a front edge view of a modified form of division-rail. Fig. 8 is a cross-section of the dividing-rail shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of one end of a case, showing a modified construction, partly broken away. Fig. 10 is a perspective View, enlarged, of one of the drawer-supports, partly broken away. Fig. 11 is a similar View of one of the rails.

The same reference-numerals denote the same parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

The case, bureau, or stand top lis secured to the top frame 2 by screws 1 from the inside, said frame comprising front and rear grooved pieces 3 and 4, respectively, and tongued pieces 5. This frame is secured to the corner-posts 6 6 and 7 7 by screws before the top 1 is put in place, thus making a per-.

foot and secure joint between the top 1 and the top frame 2, as well as a secure and rigid attachment between the corner-posts and the top 1.

The ends 8 are formed of rabbeted panels, (see Fig. 6,) and the latter are tongued into the front and rear corner-posts 6 6 and 7 7 by means of the vertical grooves 9 in the front posts 6 6 and a like groove 10 in the rear posts 7 7. The back 11 of the case is also paneled and rabbeted to the rear posts by means of the groove 12. These ends and rear panels and front and rear posts constitute the" main frame of the case of great strength and durability.

Between the grooves or rabbets l0 and 12 of the rear posts is formed a vertical shoulder 13, against which the inner end of the guide-flange 14 upon the drawer-supports 15 abuts, with its outer end 15 engaging alike shoulder 16 in the front posts. Each end of the support 15 extends beyond its flange lat into right-angle notches or rabbets 17 and 18, respectively, in the front and rear posts. The notches or rabbets in the front posts are also occupied by the projection 19 of the combined drawer dividing and stop rail 20, now to be described.

The rail 20 divides the drawers 21 and has a longitudinal stop flange or bead 22, which extends to a shoulder 23 and abuts against the edge of the drawer-support 15. The rail 20 is extended farther to a shoulder 24, which engages the surface of the front posts with the projection 19 in the notch or rabbet 17 in front of the endof the said support. An opening or clearance 25 is thus left between the flange 22 and each front post for the pas= sage of the end of the drawers, whereby they may he slid upon the supports and stopped from farther inward movement by the flange 22, and forming a joint between the posts,

the supports, and the rails without employing screws or nails; yet, owing to the foregoingdescribed peculiar construction of parts, they are warranted against displacement.

The bottom of the drawer 21 is tongued into the drawer-front, and the latter has a depending flange 26, which engages the stopflange 22. The end 27 of the drawer has an enlarged bottom edge 28, having upon its inner side a groove 29, in which are secured the ends of the drawer-bottom. This enlargement 28 is adapted to slide in the opening or space 25 and upon the drawer-support 15, making the only bearing between the case and the drawer without lost motion in the movement of the drawer, producing an absolutely close joint, to the exclusion of dust, &c.

When the invention is used on a large scale or in heavy furniture, the modified rail 30, Fig. 7, is desirable, having top and bottom drawer stop-flanges 31 and 32, respectively, the flange 31 being engaged by the bottom of one drawer and the flange 32 engaged by the top of the next drawer below to stop the inward slide of the drawers.

Referring to Fig. 0, it shows the cornerposts constructed forlarge or 11 eavy casework, and each front and rear post is formed in two sections. The front post comprises a section 33, having a groove 3% for one end of a drawer-support and a vertical groove 35, into which is fitted the tongue 36 of the other section 37, the latter having a rabbet-groove 38 for the end panels 39. The rear post consists of sections 40 and All, the former having a groove or notch 42 for one end of the said drawer-support, a vertical groove 4-3 for the tongue .11% of the section 41, and a vertical groove 45 for the end of the back 46.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to any particular material, to the depth or length of the rabbets or grooves, nor to the size or use to which my invention may be applied; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with the top frame, the main frame, the posts of the latter having vertical grooves, a vertical shoulder between the grooves, and a series of notches in and at right angles to the shoulder, the flanged rails, and the flanged drawer-supports, the ends of the said rails being held in certain of the notches by one end of the drawer-supports entering the same notches, as set forth.

2. The combination with the posts having vertical grooves, a vertical shoulder between the grooves, and notches in the shoulder, of the flanged drawer-supports, and the drawerdividing rails having a drawer stop-flange ending short of the rail ends to form a space between the flange ends and the front posts, said rail ends having a shoulder to fit the front end of the drawer-supports, a shoulder engaging the front post, and a projection held in certain of the said notches by the end of the drawer-supports, as set forth.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM H. XVATSON.

\Vitnesses:

J. W. Soorr, F. B. DUBAGH. 

